will a cirolanid isopod stick to people?

bs21

bs21

Member
if you do have them in your tank or just want to do an experiment I read about a trap for them. Apparently they are only active for short periods of time after lights out in a tank and really don't become active till 1/2 an hour or so after turning off the lights. Anyway the trap that was made out of a water bottle 20oz or so in size. They drilled a small 1/8 inch size hole in the cap after putting a thawed piece of meaty food (scallop fish food you use whatever) and submerged it in the tank when the lights went out. about an hour and a half later they pulled up the trap and had at least 10 in there. I guess the hole was small enough that nothing else could get in but they could.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
dont mistake other isopods and copepods for them as one is not comparable to the other. a cirolanid is not like other isopods.. its the exception rather than the rule.
 
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tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/2564572
dont mistake other isopods and copepods for them as one is not comparable to the other. a cirolanid is not like other isopods.. its the exception rather than the rule.
True. Most of the bugs n a tank are safe and beneficial. These isopods, are bad, but not nearly as common as the good ones.
These guys slingshot off of a surface and swim up side down. Without something to climb up on and shoot themselves off of, they are rather slow.
You'd never catch one while it was swimming, but they seem to surface hop from what I saw. It's not random, they know exactly where they are going and have bullseye accuracy, but without a target they just randomly jump...
The little one is the funnest to watch...
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...t=c9712c72.flv
 
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tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by alix2.0
http:///forum/post/2564004
tizzo... you want one as a PET!? darling, i think you may have spilled your beans.
If they can do it with a mantis...
but wouldn't it be neat to study? I mean we watch shrimp, anemones, clams and crabs. Wouldn't an isopod be interesting? But only if it gets big, I wouldn't set up a tank for a permanent bug sized bug.
 
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tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by mckaax
http:///forum/post/2564768
I am just not sure if the ones I have are good or bad?
If you see the bug on the rocks, sand, or crushed coral, then it is most likely not one of these.
if you see a potato bug, aka pill bug aka rolly polly on your fish, you got problems.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
You can have them as pets, there is a place that sells the big guys as pets. You dont get them that large but the species is of one that gets big. NOT Gigantic like the deep sea versions but 6" or so. I can try to get more info on the place that is selling them. my LFS told me not too long ago on an order list from a vender they saw them for sale.
 
mscarpena

mscarpena

Member
I dont want thses things as pets, but I do have some in both of my reef tanks. I have never had any issues with any of them. I only see a few every once and a while. They end up in my overflow box and I kill them. I have never seen any attach to any fish or anything like that. I have been able to catch a few with a turkey baster and kill them that way as well. You have to be fast and follow them around for a while that way. I do reccomend getting rid of them, but I would not kill yourself or tear apart your tank to do so.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
That's a funny/cool video. What kind of isopod is the one next to the cirolanid? The smaller, browner one...
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Originally Posted by mscarpena
http:///forum/post/2564882
I dont want thses things as pets, but I do have some in both of my reef tanks. I have never had any issues with any of them. I only see a few every once and a while. They end up in my overflow box and I kill them. I have never seen any attach to any fish or anything like that. I have been able to catch a few with a turkey baster and kill them that way as well. You have to be fast and follow them around for a while that way. I do reccomend getting rid of them, but I would not kill yourself or tear apart your tank to do so.
You would have to first identify them as Cirolanid Isopods. Most isopods are nothing more than scavangers and are not parasitic. The cirolanids however are parasitic, and one way of telling if you have one or not is to touch it, if it curls up into a ball its not a cirolanid, and its not dangerous. Cirolanids cannot curl up into a ball.
 
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tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by m0nk
http:///forum/post/2564886
That's a funny/cool video. What kind of isopod is the one next to the cirolanid? The smaller, browner one...
he was just a baby one of those. When I first put them in a bucket at the beach, they were all 3 different colors. As they stressed the two big ones faded to that clearish white color but that lttle one stayed dark.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2564977
he was just a baby one of those. When I first put them in a bucket at the beach, they were all 3 different colors. As they stressed the two big ones faded to that clearish white color but that lttle one stayed dark.
Gotcha, good to know that they do that.
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Here you go Tizzo,
Cirolanid isopods are in the Order Isopoda, Cirolanid isopods are members of a crustacean group that contains over 680 species. Some Cirolanid species are obligate parasites, other species are strictly scavengers, and some are a combination of both. The vast majority of Cirolanids seen in the aquarium hobby seem to be obligate parasites of fish and will starve to death in your tank in two to six months if no fish are present.
If you think you have Cirolanid isopods, be sure to check out pictures of Sphaeromatid isopods. They are commonly mistaken for Cirolanid isopods when people first discover them in their aquariums, but Sphaeromatids are beneficial scavengers that should remain in your tank. You can quickly check to see if your isopods are Sphaeromatids by isolating one of them and seeing if it can roll up into a ball. Sphaeromatids can do this while most other isopods, including Cirolanids, cannot.
IMO you had either a Sphaeromatid isopods or an aegid isopod, eye placment and tail shape are 2 other ways of trying to id the correct species. The Cirolaind isopods have eyes when looked at from the top down that are more on top of their heads and large. Sphaeromatid's are smaller and reside more on the sides of their heads. Cirolaind's have a pointed tail on the last segment of their body's. The other 2 are more rounded... HTH.
Here is a pic of a Sphaeromatid Isopod
 
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